When used for any period of time, excess paint tends to accumulate on the rim of a paint bucket, from continually wiping the applicator, e.g., a paintbrush, against the rim. This excess paint eventually drips on the surface where the bucket is sitting or drips while the bucket is being carried.
One approach to ameliorating this problem has been to provide an inner lip on the bucket, so that excess paint wiped against the lip drips back into the bucket and not on the floor. Examples of such buckets include: U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,629 to Lucey, which has a lip extending outboard and sitting proud of its rim, with a configuration said to allow multiple buckets to be stacked. U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,456 to Cousar shows a modular bucket with space for a brush to rest. U.S. Pat. No. 1,696,240 to Kircher, Jr. shows a metal bucket having a lip brace extending radially between its rim and lip; the brace is generally coplanar to the rim. Neither of the above patents describes: a lip brace attached below the rim to a sidewall of a paint bucket, with the brace forming a trough for stowage of applicator brushes or rollers; nor is such a bucket described that is optionally stackable for retail display.